European gas dependencies

Many European countries remain heavily dependent on Russian gas. Annually, Russia ships around 15 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine, primarily to Slovakia and Austria, where it remains a dominant supplier. In Austria, Russian gas has accounted for more than 80% of consumption for the past five months. Europe also imports Russian LNG by ship, and despite ongoing debates, it has never sanctioned Russian gas. Consequently, it was no surprise that European gas prices surged to their highest level this year following reports that Ukrainian troops had seized the key gas transit point at Sudzha. With winter approaching and Europe's dependency on Russian gas still significant while Ukrainian bargaining power increases, we anticipate higher gas prices moving forward.